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Coca de recapte

For all of you who love pizza, focaccia*and flat breads, we will give you some good news. We have another fantastic option to prepare at home and enjoy lunch or dinner in no time, “cocas”. And to be more precise, I’ll let you know how to make “Coca de Recapte

The word “coca” comes from the Dutch word “kok” from the time of the Carolingian Empire and has the same origins as the word “Cake” or “Kuchen“.

Its purported origin says that it arose because of the need to take advantage of the remains of bread dough instead of throwing them away. The women cooked the flattened leftovers by sprinkling sugar on top to serve as dessert.

The word “coca” encompasses a wide variety of preparations.

It is used to give name to flat breads or cakes. They are consumed throughout Catalonia, Aragon, Valencia, Balearic Islands and Andorra. It is usually served on holidays such as St. John’s Night, Easter and Christmas. We must not, however, rule out consuming them for the rest of the year. They’re delicious and really easy to make.

Salted coca is a simple way of presenting traditional dishes throughout the Mediterranean. It is also considered the “mother” of focaccia and Italian pizzas.

You can prepare countless recipes, both sweet and savoury.

On this occasion we will prepare this “coca de recapte“, where recapte means “provision” that is taken to the countryside for a picnic. A crunchy dough on the outside and spongy on the inside, covered by “escalivada” (roasted red peppers and eggplants) and sardines macerated in oil and rosemary.

Few things so simple and rich will make us enjoy so much… It’s a perfect idea to prepare and enjoy this weekend, don’t you think so?

* Only available in Spanish.

Kitchen Craft acacia wood round board from Claudia&Julia

Ingredients

FOR THE DOUGH: FOR THE FILLING:

Instructions

FIRST DAY

Roast vegetables.
  1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
  2. Wash and dry red peppers and eggplant.
  3. Put the red peppers and eggplant on an oven tray lined with foil and place them in the oven.
  4. Bake about 50-60 minutes, they should take a light toasted color on the outside, the meat should be tender and we can remove the skin without problems.
  5. Half-way through cooking open the oven, move away from the door because a lot of steam will be released, and carefully using some tongs, turn the peppers to finish baking.
  6. Remove, place in a glass bowl, cover with film and leave to cool completely overnight. This will make it much easier to peel the peppers.
Clean and marinate the sardines.
  1. Eviscerate, remove the guts and head from the sardines.
  2. Scale sardines. If we don't have a scraper for that, it's okay. Put a large drainer in the sink of the kitchen, where all the scales will fall, and clean the sardines under the cold water helping us of our hands. We'll scrape against the sense of the scales.
  3. Wash very well under cold water and dry with paper towels.
  4. Open the sardine, remove the fishbone and cut in half longitudinally. Cut the beards with a sharp knife or scissors.
  5. Introduce the sardine fillets into an airtight glass container with the skin facing downwards. Sprinkle with salt, fresh rosemary leaves and cover with oil.
  6. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Make the coca dough.
  1. In a medium bowl add the dry ingredients and mix.
  2. Pour in the water and mix until a homogeneous mixture is obtained or until there are no remains of dried flour on the surface.
  3. Cover with film and let rise for 18-24 hours at room temperature.

SECOND DAY

  1. Our dough will be bubbling, its size will have increased and it will have settled, that is to say, we will see that it will have a slightly deflated appearance.
  2. Sprinkle the work surface with flour, transfer the dough over it and proceed to preshape it.
  3. Fold each of the four ends towards the center, turn the dough over and return trying to exert tension.
  4. Sprinkle with flour and let stand for 25 minutes.
  5. Preheat the oven 30 minutes before introducing the coca, we will do it at 520ºF. If your oven does not reach this temperature, it doesn´t matter, set the maximum temperature that allows you to work.
Shape the coca.
  1. Stretch the dough on a floured surface trying not to manipulate or flatten it excessively. We must shape and stretch it carefully and gently.
  2. Shape a rectangle of approximately 14 x 6,7 inches (35 x 17 cm).
  3. If the dough has some resistance and shrinks, it is due to tension. Let it relax for about 5-10 minutes, always covered to prevent it from drying out, and continue shaping it.
  4. Transfer the coca dough to a board or tray lined with baking paper and lightly sprinkled with flour.
  5. Place strips of peppers and eggplant alternating them.
  6. Place the sardines, sprinkle with a little olive oil, salt and fresh rosemary.
  7. Before placing the coca in the oven, we turn the grill on at maximum power. Depending on our oven you will have several options in terms of heat power. In my case, I put it to the max.
  8. Bake about 11-12 minutes or until the coca has a nice golden color.
  9. Remove from the oven, garnish with chopped parsley and let it cool for a few minutes on a rack before tasting it.

Notes

This "coca de recapte" can solve many dinners or appetizers, having the dough ready (which we can prepare in advance and keep it in the fridge for 4 days) in little more than 15 minutes we will be enjoying a wonderful dish. I hope to seen yours soon! Have a great weekend, see you on Monday ;) Big hugs, Eva
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